Gesture Recognition Technology Begins to Eclipse Even Itself
I’m less than a month away from getting my Leap Motion hand and finger motion controller in the mail. While I’m still kinda excited, I’ve just had to accept that it’s arguably already yesterday’s technology. The groundbreaking new device hasn’t even been released to consumers, yet it may have already been put on the back burner while the new belle of the ball takes its place.
Gesture-based technology that requires you to be in the same room as the device powering that technology? Go home, ball-and-chain gesture controls. You’re outdated.
WiSee, while still being fine-tuned, allows pre-assigned, signature gestures to control things like the thermostat, television volume, coffee pot—anything that can be programmed—to desired levels, all with the wave of a hand or, in some cases, the kick of a foot.
I want one. Now.
Of course, after the initial amazement period, most people who learn about WiSee immediately have questions: What if there are multiple people who are all gesturing? and even What’s to prevent someone you don’t want controlling the appliances in your home from making them go berserk?
Rachel Nuwer at Txchnologist explains that there are still some kinks being worked out:
When four people were involved simultaneously in the trials, however, WiSee’s accuracy dropped to around 60 percent, so this functionality still needs to be improved. ...
WiSee does raise security questions. Without some sort of password system, anyone could walk into a WiSee-equipped home or office and take control of the system. The team is attempting to devise a series of patterned movements that act as a password to allow users to access the system.
When I shared my infatuation with this apparently not-so-futuristic ability with my coworkers, some weren’t as impressed and wondered how lazy we’re becoming when we don’t want to simply walk into another room to press a button or turn a dial.
I raised them with another of Nuwer’s points in her article where she points out the developers behind WiSee plan on the device's being able to be “programmed to perform safety functions for certain users, like automatically dialing 911 if a homeowner falls down” if that person is without their phone.
I can’t envision how this technology will even be optional anymore. First touchscreens replaced buttons, then Leap Motion replaced the mouse, and now we are ultimately replacing them all. How cool is that?
